Issue w/ thumb sprain and bicep tendon

[Kenneth Watts]

Joe,

Wanted to ask if you could give me any general guidance on a issue I’ve been dealing with:

I sprained (I think) my thumb a few weeks ago doing something stupid, initially I had swelling around the joint and a decent amount of pain. Since then the joint itself is tender, but I can train around it. However I’ve noticed that my bicep continuously tightens up on that side (especially the distal portion) as well as my brachioradialis and the other muscles on the top of my forearm. At times I’ll get a pain that runs from the top of my shoulder (where my bicep meets my front delt) all the way down to the tip of my finger. I’ve done some self manual tissue therapy and it seems like it’ll feel “looser” for a day or two, but will tighten back up after I do upper body training. Any advice on things I can do that could help? I recognize manual therapy isn’t always a good solution for long term issues, but with a freak issue like this would you say it’s appropriate to use?

[Joe]

Joe,

Wanted to ask if you could give me any general guidance on a issue I’ve been dealing with:

I sprained (I think) my thumb a few weeks ago doing something stupid, initially I had swelling around the joint and a decent amount of pain. Since then the joint itself is tender, but I can train around it. However I’ve noticed that my bicep continuously tightens up on that side (especially the distal portion) as well as my brachioradialis and the other muscles on the top of my forearm. At s I’ll get a pain that runs from the top of my shoulder (where my bicep meets my front delt) all the way down to the tip of my finger. I’ve done some self manual tissue therapy and it seems like it’ll feel “looser” for a day or two, but will tighten back up after I do upper body training. Any advice on things I can do that could help? I recognize manual therapy isn’t always a good solution for long term issues, but with a freak issue like this would you say it’s appropriate to use?

[Kenneth Watts]

Joe, thanks for all of the advice!! The main thing I’ve had to modify so far has been I can’t dumbbell press, the db’s we use have a grip that narrows in the middle and gets wider at the ends, so metal pushes directly into the joint of the thumb that’s injured. Smith press and doing stuff with cables is getting the job done for now, I can’t military press either even in the smith for the same reason. The bar pushes directly onto the thumb joint. Everything else for upper body I’ve been able to keep the same.

I really appreciate the advice regarding range of motion and addressing it at the wrist/thumb. I’ve noticed my lack of ROM seems to be mostly at the bicep/elbow joint and all around my scapula now, should I be spending time applying that same principle to those areas? At this point I’m getting confused about what’s the root cause of the issue, I’ve never had issues with my right scapula before the last couple days which is odd. Any advice is appreciated thanks again!!

[Joe]

Kenneth Watts wrote:

Joe, thanks for all of the advice!! The main thing I’ve had to modify so far has been I can’t dumbbell press, the db’s we use have a grip that narrows in the middle and gets wider at the ends, so metal pushes directly into the joint of the thumb that’s injured. Smith press and doing stuff with cables is getting the job done for now, I can’t military press either even in the smith for the same reason. The bar pushes directly onto the thumb joint. Everything else for upper body I’ve been able to keep the same.

I really appreciate the advice regarding range of motion and addressing it at the wrist/thumb. I’ve noticed my lack of ROM seems to be mostly at the bicep/elbow joint and all around my scapula now, should I be spending applying that same principle to those areas? At this point I’m getting confused about what’s the root cause of the issue, I’ve never had issues with my right scapula before the last couple days which is odd. Any advice is appreciated thanks again!!

[Kenneth Watts]

Thanks for all the advice Joe, ended up getting some manual therapy done which seemed to help in the short term. I’ll look up some of your videos for mobility related stuff regarding the hand/wrist as well as the scapula, thanks again!

[Author]

Posts